DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, the first immigrants to leave China for the west coast of the North American continent came mainly from the Pearl River Delta in southern China. Disasters in the form of typhoons, earthquakes, famine, and floods periodically destroyed the delicate balance between nature and the Chinese people. But even without such natural disasters, migration, if not immigration, was necessary. First came local seasonal migration, then overseas migration, and finally permanent settlement away from home. In these ways villages and towns traditionally tried to avoid the total dislocation born of over-population, the collapse of certain occupations, a weakened economy, civil war, and foreign invasions. Some of the first Chinese migrants to Canada came from the California Gold Rush. When gold was discovered in 1858 along the Fraser River, the interior of British Columbia was flooded with immigrants, many Chinese included. During the 1860s and 1870s, others came directly from China as independent miners and workers or were recruited as contract or indentured labourers. The second wave of Chinese immigration came between 1880 and 1885 with the construction of the western section of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). Thousands were recruited directly from China to build the last segment of Canada’s transcontinental railroad from Eagle Pass to Port Moody. After the completion of the CPR, most Chinese railroad navvies faced unemployment, hardship, and discrimination. Nearly a thousand men went back to China. Others went into industries such as forestry, sawmills, fish canning, coal mining, and into domestic service. Many, in search of job opportunities, moved eastward to other provinces.

The strong anti-Chinese sentiment of the day gave rise to immigration policies that restricted further Chinese immigration to Canada. After 1885, the Act to Restrict and Regulate Chinese Immigration required that all Chinese entering Canada pay a series of head taxes: $50, $100, and finally $500. In 1923, the Chinese Immigration Act (the Exclusion Act) prohibited Chinese immigrants, with few exceptions, from entering Canada. Until its repeal in 1947, many wives and children in China were unable to join their husbands and fathers in Canada. It was not until Canada’s 1967 Centennial that the point system was introduced and Chinese people could enter the country under democratic immigration policies. Chinese immigration to Canadastarted to increase in the postwar decades with people trickling in from many different locations including Hong Kong. A sizeable number of Chinese also came to Canada in the 1980s as refugees from Vietnam, Laos, and Kampuchea (Cambodia). Today, the majority of recent Chinese immigrants in Canada are from Hong Kong, coming as students, entrepreneurs participating in the immigrant investor program, or as members of the family reunification program. New groups of immigrants have also migrated from South America, South Africa, the Caribbean, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Between 1858 and 1967, Canadians of Chinese origin settled in every province, though by far the most lived in British Columbia. After 1967, settlement shifted towards central Canada, with Ontario a favoured destination. The 1996 census records the presence of 921,585 persons of Chinese origin (single and multiple responses) in Canada. Major settlements were established in Ontario (422,770), and British Columbia (312,330). Today, people of Chinese descent make their home in all of Canada’s big cities.

In the early period, many Chinese settled in the mining communities of British Columbia where they established areas characterized by Chinese shops and residential buildings. As more immigrants arrived in Victoria, New Westminster, and later Vancouver, so-called Chinatowns developed. Major settlements were also established in Ontario, Alberta, and Quebec. Their Chinatowns served as commercial areas and community centres. Businesses drew their customers from the residents of the district and from a transient population of Chinese miners and labourers from more remote areas. Chinatowns were not all restaurants and laundries. These were flanked by a rich assortment of establishments serving many more aspects of the immigrants’ needs of body and soul. Traditions and ties to China were maintained, and politics, entertainment, family life, sports, andbattles against racism were organized there. Today, the growth of Canada’s Chinese community can be seen in the renewal of old Chinatowns and in the emergence of thriving commercial centres and shopping plazas in the suburbs of major urban areas. Toronto now has the largest Chinese community in Canada and the third largest in North America. Vancouver has the second-largest Chinatown in Canada, and Montreal’s Chinatown was revitalized in the 1980s with community development projects to build senior citizens’ homes, community centres, and housing and business complexes.

After having settled in all areas of British Columbia, early Chinese arrivals worked in key industries such as gold mining, salmon canning, and coal mining. They also laboured on frontier projects such as railway building and land clearing. In central Canada’s towns and cities, restaurants and laundries provided both a haven for many Chinese and an ideal economic opportunity since such businesses did not require much start-up capital, new language skills, or special training. The restaurant trade was to remain an important source of employment and self-employment for members of the community after the Second World War even when opportunities in professional and technical occupations opened up.

By the 1960s, new opportunities in the professional and technical fields emerged with the decline of the relative importance of the service sector as a source of employment. After 1967, the arrival of Chinese immigrants with professional qualifications contributed to the growth of a distinct Chinese middle class. Chinese immigration increased after policy changes were made favourable to business immigrants in 1985. The growth of the Chinese population in Toronto by the mid-1980s, for example, increased the demand from Chinese proprietors for ethnic cuisine and for cultural products. In particular, the growing middle class created an ongoing need for professional services and quality products from Chinese professionals and entrepreneurs. As well, the injection of capital by Chinese business immigrants and off-shore capital corporations stimulated the growth of large-scale, capital-intensive ethnic enterprises in Canada.

Chinese Canadians have shown remarkable initiative in forming strong clan and district associations based on place of origin in China, surname, and common heritage. These associations have provided support, information, and assistance in dealing with immigration, taxes, and employment opportunities. They have organized legal aid, arranged loans, set up credit unions, and housing for bachelor immigrants. They have also served as meeting places and cultural centres and have assumed a leading role in organizing social events such as picnics, dances, New Year’s celebrations, and performances of Chinese operas. During the challenging days of World War II, the associations raised millions of dollars for the Canadian war effort through parades and social events.  As the Chinese community grew, service agencies were formed to help non-English speakers find work.

Contemporary Chinese Canadians have contributed much to Canada. Among Canada’s most prominent architects is Bing Thom, who designed the Canadian pavilion for the 1992 World’s Fair in Seville, Spain. And in the field of construction, engineering, and property development, Michael Huang is a vigorous force. As partner of Huang and Danczkay, his firm built Terminal 3 at Pearson Airport and skyscrapers at Harbourfront.

Canadian fiction, nonfiction, and poetry have been enriched by writers of Chinese background including Wayson Choi, Denise Chong, Winston Kam, Evelyn Lau, Sky Lee, Fred Wah, and Paul Yee.

Remarkable figures in Canada’s film industry include such writers, artists, and filmmakers as Brenda Lem, Keith Lock, and Mina Shum.

In the performing arts, composer Alexina Louie, and rocker and video jockey Sook-Yin Lee continue to gain recognition in their respective musical fields. In the world of classical dance, Chan Hon Goh became the first Chinese-Canadian principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada.

Chinese Canadians have gained and continue to gain considerable recognition in Canadian broadcast and print journalism. Of special note are journalist, novelist, and publisher Adrienne Clarkson, who, in 1999, was invested as Canada’s 26th Governor General; television business correspondent Der Hoi-Yin, newscaster Wei Chen, and journalist and writer Jan Wong.

Designer Alfred Sung built a fashion business empire under the Club Monaco label, creating a variety of product lines that includes luggage, perfume, furs, and household linens.

In the world of computer technology, entrepreneur Kwok Yuen Ho of ATI Technologies Inc. has become an industry powerhouse in the design and production of sophisticated computer graphics.

Of great importance to the medical research community are the scientific achievements of Dr. Tak Mak, leading Canadian investigator of the immune system, and Dr. Lap-Chee Tsui of the University of Toronto, who identified the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis.

In sports, Normie Kwong, “The China Clipper,” played on four Grey Cup championship football teams during the 1940s and 1950s. As a fullback, this gridiron great set thirty Canadian Football League individual records and was the first player to rush for over 9,000 yards. Vancouver athlete Lori Fung brought home the gold in rhythmic gymnastics from the 1984 Olympics.

The postwar period witnessed an increased participation of Canadians of Chinese origin in Canadian politics. In 1957 Douglas Jung became the first Chinese Canadian to be elected to the House of Commons serving the riding of Vancouver Centre from 1957 to 1962. Vancouver lawyer and native Albertan, Art Lee, followed in his footsteps in 1974. Raymond Chan, an immigrant from Hong Kong, was elected to the House in 1993 and was subsequently named Secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific.

Chinese Canadians have also entered provincial politics. Bob Wong of Fort Erie, Ontario, was elected to the provincial legislature in 1987. He was the first Chinese named to a cabinet post in Canada when he served as Ontario’s Minister of Energy and Minister of Culture and Citizenship in the government of Premier David Peterson.

Chinese Canadians have figured prominently in municipal government. Mayors include Peter Wing of Kamloops, British Columbia (1966-1971); Wayne Mah of Eston, Saskatchewan (1984-1985); and Peter Wong, who was elected mayor of Sudbury, Ontario, in 1983.

The Chinese community has also helped address such issues as racial equality and minority rights. Lawyer Susan Eng served as Chair of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Services Board from 1991 to 1995. Dr. Joseph Wong served as Chairman of the United Way of Greater Toronto in 1990 and was named to the Order of Canada in 1993. Born and bred in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Jean Lumb of Toronto was a member of the committee that successfully lobbied the Diefenbaker government in 1957 to change the immigration law to improve family reunification. For her long and sterling career in community service, she was awarded the Order of Canada in 1976, the first Chinese Canadian woman to receive this recognition.

Other activists of note include restaurateur Bill Wen, founding president of the Toronto Chinese RestaurantAssociation and a leader of a gritty save Chinatown campaign; Valerie Mah, the first Chinese-Canadian elementary school principal in Toronto; Cheuk C. Kwan, human rights activist and project director of the National Movement for Harmony in Canada; Dock Yip, community sage and neophyte actor at age 80, and the first Chinese Canadian called to the bar; and Dora Nipp, lawyer, historian, documentary filmmaker, and policy analyst with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

Philanthropist David Lam was appointed Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia in 1988 and served until 1995. Toronto residents Evelyn Huang and Vivienne Poy, the latter of whom is the first person of Chinese descent to sit in the Canadian Senate (1998), in turn, have proved indefatigable fundraisers and supporters of numerous cultural causes.

As Canadians embrace the new millennium, Chinese influence will continue to shape and influence the development of Canada as a global player in the twenty-first century.